Apple Press Event - Sept 1, 2010

So what's all the hype and anticipation about from the September 1, 2010 Apple Press Event?

1. Update regarding new Retail Stores - Paris store. Very beautiful. Shanghai China store. 40 ft high glass cylinder entrance. London store. Coven Garden. Massive store. One room just for iPads. Nice mix of old and new architecture. 300 Total Retail Stores in 10 Countries. Opening soon in Spain. 80,000 One to One classes per week.

2. iOS review - made iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad possible. 120 million iOS devices sold. 230,000 new iOS devices activated per day. Upgrades not included. 6.5 Billion apps downloaded from the app store (200 apps every second). 250,000 apps available for purchase.

3. iOS 4.1 release announced today. Included bug fixes including Proximity Detector, Bluetooth, iPhone 3GS performance issues. HDR photos, HD Video upload over WiFi, Game Center (multi-player games).

4. iOS 4.2 sneak peek - mainly for iPad - coming soon. Wireless Printing, Multi-tasking, Airplay (streaming of audio, video, & photos over WiFi) - November release date.

5. iPods - 275 million iPods sold to date. This year - all-new designs for all models.

• iPod Shuffle - small, buttons are back, voice-over and clip stays, 15 hours of music playback, available in 5 color for $49.
• iPod Nano - buttons are gone, smaller than previous generations, Multi-Touch based controls, clip added, built in FM Radio & Clock. 24 hour battery life (audio playback). GUI appears to be a lite version of iOS. 7 colors available. 
• iPod Touch - Thinner, Retina Display, A4 chip, 3-axis Gyro, iOS 4.1, FaceTime with front facing camera. HD Video recording on rear camera. 40 hours of music playback. Basically iPhone4 without the phone / 3G capability. Starting @ $229.

6. iTunes review - 11.7 billion songs, 450 million TV episodes, 100 million movies, 35 million books, 160 million accounts.

• Announcing iTunes 10. New logo - no more CD in the logo. Slightly updated navigation.
• Ping - social networking for iTunes (all about music). You can now "follow" people in iTunes regarding their favorite songs, recent posts, where they are in concert (if they're an artist), etc. You can post your favorite songs and have people follow you.
• Available today for Mac and iPhone and iPod touch.

7. Apple TV - New generation - 1/4 the size of last gen. Small enough to hold in the palm of your hand. HDMI connector, Ethernet, WiFi, remote. Stream music from computer if desired. Rentals instead of purchase. No storage. Stream content from your computer. $4.99 for HD first run movies. $.99 HD TV show rentals - commercial free. So far ABC & Fox are on board with TV Shows. Netflix streaming. YouTube streaming. Flickr photo viewing. MobileMe streaming. iTunes Podcasts streaming. Radio stations. Stream videos from your iPad to your AppleTV. New price - $99! Available in 4 weeks.